Up and Down Converters

This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services, and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures.  This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334515 (Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals) with a small business size standard of 750 employees.

The Government requires the procurement of an Up and Down Converters, and intends to negotiate a sole-source award for this requirement with Virginia Diodes, Inc., 979 Second Street, SE, Suite 309, Charlottesville, VA, 22902. Relevant Virginia Diodes, Inc. product descriptions and technical specifications for the required Up and Down Converters are as follows:

Item 1, qty. 1 each –

330-500 GHz MixAMC-UC - Mixer/Amplifier/Multiplier Chain (Up-Converter)

Saturated Output Power: 10mW typical goal

Mixer Compression: -1dBm input P1dB

Expected Configuration: x3/Mixer/Amp/x3/Antenna

Multiplication Factor: N=18

Available IF Frequency: ~10MHz-24GHz

A turn-key frequency sweepable system.

Required LO Power: 18.33-27.78GHz, +3dBm expected

RF Flange: WR-2.2 UG-387/U-M (expected)

IF Flange: 2.9mm(f)

Item 2, qty. 1 each –

330-500GHz MixAMC-DC - Mixer/Amplifier/Multiplier Chain (Down-Converter)

RF: 330-500 GHz, Flange: WR-2.2 UG-387/U-M

RF Input Power (~1dB Compression / Damage, typical, est.): -7dBm /

0dBm

LO: 13.75-20.83 GHz (N=24), Flange: 2.9mm coax (f)

LO Power: 0-6dBm typical

Typical Performance: Lmix: 14 dB typ. (SSB, intrinsic mixer)

Available IF Band: 100kHz-40 GHz, 2.9mm(f)

Note: Includes integrated IF Amplifier

Gain: ~12dB

Item 3, qty. 1 each

330-500 GHz Horn Antenna and Reflector Assemblies

Gain: 40dBi

Up and down-converter systems will be integrated with antenna assembly

The Government has determined that other companies’ products and services do not meet or cannot be modified to meet the Government's needs.  Virgina Diodes, Inc. (VDI) is the only known vendor that commercially offers frequency converters that operate above 300GHz, as required by the Terahertz Communications Team.  Similar devices exist as one-off prototypes built by various academic laboratories around the world, but they are not available for sale commercially and are not manufactured in bulk.  Interchanges with VDI have yielded that they do not maintain a network of resellers for their products and are the sole-source provider.  For these reasons, the Government has determined VDI to be the sole-source provider of the required Up and Down Converters.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive proposals; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or proposal, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be sent by email to Cody.Owens.4@us.af.mil. Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however, a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 15 April 2025.

A Sole Source Justification will be attached to the subsequent Notice of Award in accordance with applicable regulation.